Sirach 4 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Fili, eleemosynam pauperis ne defraudes, et oculos tuos ne transvertas a paupere.
1 My son, don’t deprive the poor of his living. Don’t make the needy eyes wait long.
2 Animam esurientem ne despexeris, et non exasperes pauperem in inopia sua.
2 Don’t make a hungry soul sorrowful, or provoke a man in his distress.
3 Cor inopis ne afflixeris, et non protrahas datum angustianti.
3 Don’t add more trouble to a heart that is provoked. Don’t put off giving to him who is in need.
4 Rogationem contribulati ne abjicias, et non avertas faciem tuam ab egeno.
4 Don’t reject a suppliant in his affliction. Don’t turn your face away from a poor man.
5 Ab inope ne avertas oculos tuos propter iram: et non relinquas quærentibus tibi retro maledicere.
5 Don’t turn your eye away from one who asks. Give no occasion to a man to curse you.
6 Maledicentis enim tibi in amaritudine animæ, exaudietur deprecatio illius: exaudiet autem eum qui fecit illum.
6 For if he curses you in the bitterness of his soul, he who made him will hear his supplication.
7 Congregationi pauperum affabilem te facito: et presbytero humilia animam tuam, et magnato humilia caput tuum.
7 Endear yourself to the assembly. Bow your head to a great man.
8 Declina pauperi sine tristitia aurem tuam, et redde debitum tuum, et responde illi pacifica in mansuetudine.
8 Incline your ear to a poor man. Answer him with peaceful words in humility.
9 Libera eum qui injuriam patitur de manu superbi, et non acide feras in anima tua.
9 Deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him who wrongs him; Don’t be hesitant in giving judgment.
10 In judicando esto pupillis misericors ut pater, et pro viro matri illorum:
10 Be as a father to the fatherless, and like a husband to their mother. So you will be as a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than your mother does.
11 et eris tu velut filius Altissimi obediens, et miserebitur tui magis quam mater.]
11 Wisdom exalts her sons, and takes hold of those who seek her.
12 [Sapientia filiis suis vitam inspirat: et suscipit inquirentes se, et præibit in via justitiæ.
12 He who loves her loves life. Those who seek her early will be filled with gladness.
13 Et qui illam diligit, diligit vitam, et qui vigilaverint ad illam complectentur placorem ejus.
13 He who holds her fast will inherit glory. Where he enters, the Lord will bless.
14 Qui tenuerint illam, vitam hæreditabunt: et quo introibit benedicet Deus.
14 Those who serve her minister to the Holy One. The Lord loves those who love her.
15 Qui serviunt ei obsequentes erunt sancto: et eos qui diligunt illam, diligit Deus.
15 He who listens to her will judge the nations. He who heeds her will dwell securely.
16 Qui audit illam judicabit gentes: et qui intuetur illam permanebit confidens.
16 If he trusts her, he will inherit her, and his generations will possess her.
17 Si crediderit ei, hæreditabit illam, et erunt in confirmatione creaturæ illius:
17 For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her judgments.
18 quoniam in tentatione ambulat cum eo, et in primis eligit eum.
18 Then she will return him again to the straight way, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets.
19 Timorem, et metum, et probationem inducet super illum: et cruciabit illum in tribulatione doctrinæ suæ, donec tentet eum in cogitationibus suis, et credat animæ illius.
19 If he goes astray, she will forsake him, and hand him over to his fall.
20 Et firmabit illum, et iter adducet directum ad illum, et lætificabit illum:
20 Watch for the opportunity, and beware of evil. Don’t be ashamed of your soul.
21 et denudabit absconsa sua illi, et thesaurizabit super illum scientiam et intellectum justitiæ.
21 For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace.
22 Si autem oberraverit, derelinquet eum, et tradet eum in manus inimici sui.]
22 Don’t show partiality, discrediting your soul. Don’t revere any man to your falling.
23 [Fili, conserva tempus, et devita a malo.
23 Don’t refrain from speaking when it is for safety. Don’t hide your wisdom for the sake of seeming fair.
24 Pro anima tua ne confundaris dicere verum:
24 For wisdom will be known by speech, and instruction by the word of the tongue.
25 est enim confusio adducens peccatum, et est confusio adducens gloriam et gratiam.
25 Don’t speak against the truth and be shamed for your ignorance.
26 Ne accipias faciem adversus faciem tuam, nec adversus animam tuam mendacium.
26 Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins. Don’t fight the river’s current.
27 Ne reverearis proximum tuum in casu suo,
27 Don’t lay yourself down for a fool to tread upon. Don’t be partial to one who is mighty.
28 nec retineas verbum in tempore salutis. Non abscondas sapientiam tuam in decore suo:
28 Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord God will fight for you.
29 in lingua enim sapientia dignoscitur: et sensus, et scientia, et doctrina in verbo sensati, et firmamentum in operibus justitiæ.
29 Don’t be hasty with your tongue, or slack and negligent in your deeds.
30 Non contradicas verbo veritatis ullo modo, et de mendacio ineruditionis tuæ confundere.
30 Don’t be like a lion in your house, or suspicious of your servants.
31 Non confundaris confiteri peccata tua, et ne subjicias te omni homini pro peccato.
31 Don’t let your hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when you should repay.
32 Noli resistere contra faciem potentis, nec coneris contra ictum fluvii.
32 Not in this translation
33 Pro justitia agonizare pro anima tua, et usque ad mortem certa pro justitia: et Deus expugnabit pro te inimicos tuos.
33 Not in this translation
34 Noli citatus esse in lingua tua, et inutilis, et remissus in operibus tuis.
34 Not in this translation
35 Noli esse sicut leo in domo tua, evertens domesticos tuos, et opprimens subjectos tibi.
35 Not in this translation
36 Non sit porrecta manus tua ad accipiendum, et ad dandum collecta.]
36 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Now "all consummation" appeareth to me in this place to signify, the striving even unto death for the truth, and the endurance of every evil for the true and chief good: the end of which consummation is to excel in the kingdom of Christ, which hath no end; and there to have without death, without pain, and with great honour, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
"For a word is a better thing than a gift," and "answer the poor man peaceably with meekness." And all the rest of thy time too adorn it with the rehearsing of the laws of God; "Yea, let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High." Having thus adorned ourselves, let us come to our King, and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Let not thine hand be only stretched out to receive, but let it be also ready to work.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)